![]() ![]() Most were fitted with the new radar when it eventually became However, due to the late delivery of theĪN/APQ-120 radar, the first 30 F-4Es were delivered without any radarĪt all. The large radar set that was fitted to the F-4C and F-4D, so the F-4EĬarried the solid-state Westinghouse AN/APQ-120 X-band radar set which The gun installation underneath the nose precluded the installation of Hunt and Wayne Wight being the crewmembers. The first production F-4E (serial number 66-0284) flew InĪddition, the proximity of the gun to the radar set required that veryĮffective vibration dampers and noise/blast eliminators had to beĪn initial batch of 96 F-4Es was ordered in August 1966 as part of anį-4D contract. The severe space constraints in the new nose meant that a newĪmmunition feed system had to be designed for the M61A1 cannon. In the engine bays to accommodate the higher temperatures. Powerplant, which required new mounts and additional titanium sheeting Both aircraft were powered by the J79-GE-J1B engines,īut both were later re-engined with the definitive J79-GE-17 Second YF-4E had the gun and no radar, but the third had both the gunĪnd the radar. Planes had the definitive nose-mounted cannon installation. YF-4E were sufficiently encouraging that two other YF-4Es were ![]() Temporarily redesignated YF-4E, the modified aircraft first flew onĪfter 50 flights, the first YF-4E was re-engined with J79-GE-J1BĮngines (prototypes of the -10 and -17 series). ![]() Flight test instrumentation was carried in a centerline pod. The first YRF-4C (62-12200) was modified to test this new arrangement.Ī lead computing gunsight was cannibalized from an Air National Guardį-100D. Underneath the nose that could carry a single six-barrel 20-mm General Was fitted with an AN/APG-30 radar set and an external pod was mounted Sharper, longer nose of the RF-4C reconnaissance version. The main difficulty in equipping the Phantom with an internal cannon To be produced in greater numbers than any other single Phantom The gun-armed F-4E was finally funded in June of 1965. Phantom in late 1964 and finally got the attention of the Air Force. McDonnell began a new design study for a gun-armed Which reduced the performance of the Phantom carrying it, and took upĪn initial F-4 variant with an internal M61 cannon had been proposedīy McDonnell to the USAF in March of 1961, but had met with littleĮnthusiasm. The Phantoms could carry a podded cannon mounted on theĬenterline, but it was relatively inaccurate, caused excessive drag Many an enemy MiG was able to escape unscathedīecause a Phantom-launched missile malfunctioned and missed its They were expensive, unreliable, and vulnerable toĬountermeasures. The earlier Sparrow,įalcon, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles did not perform up toĮxpectations. The initial air-to-air battles over Vietnam. However, the all-missile fighter had shown some serious drawbacks in Consequently, all Phantoms to reach production had been The future and that the internal gun was an obsolete holdover from anīygone era. Philosophy of the day was that the air-to-air missile was the wave of Proposal was designed around a quartet of 20-mm cannon. McDonnell F-4E Phantom II McDonnell F-4E Phantom II Last revised July 29, 2020ĭuring the initial design of the Phantom, several proposals had beenĬonsidered for a cannon-armed version. ![]()
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